Where have you gone Jon Stewart? A nation turns its clueless eyes to you. Woo, woo, woo.
After shaming Congress and the media into action with a masterful “Daily Show” segment on the Zadroga Bill for 9/11 first responders last Thursday, Stewart and his team went on hiatus until the new year. With time running out to finish work on the measure, even President Obama expressed hope that the Dark Knight of Comedy will return to save Gotham City’s 9/11 rescuers.
At a press conference Tuesday to discuss the impending Senate vote on the bill, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs sent out the D.C. equivalent of a Bat-Signal, telling the press: “I hope he can convince two Republicans [to avoid a filibuster] to support taking care of those that took care of so many on that awful day in our history.”
If you ask us, there’s something slightly scary about our President asking a funnyman for help with the jokers who’ve come to populate Congress.
At the very least, it’s highly unusual. As Congressman Anthony Weiner, a Stewart pal since the late ’80s, told us, people urge the President to pass legislation all the time, but “it’s almost unheard of for the President to say, ‘Call this standup comic with a fake news show and get him to pass this bill!’”
Then again, Weiner tells us: “I think Gibbs realizes that Jon Stewart has become the political conscience of the country” and “the political game changer” of this issue.
If the Zadroga bill does not pass now, The News’ Washington Bureau reports, the measure would have to start from scratch in the new Congress. With the House controlled by the GOP, it is unlikely to stand a chance.
But it doesn’t look like Stewart will cut short his break to keep the pressure on the congressional two-faces he tweaked on his show — the lawmakers who praised first responders, then voted against the bill. Both a Comedy Central spokeswoman and Stewart’s manager, James Dixon, told us only that “The Daily Show” is on hiatus until Jan. 3.
Asked whether Stewart should get back on the air early, Weiner told us: “He’s done his part — he changed the discussion!”
NYDN/Digiacomo/ 12/23/2010
FloridaLatinConnection/ Arnoldo Varona, Editor
* Obama administration turns to funnyman Jon Stewart for help in passing 9/11 Zadroga Bill..
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